The invention relates to message management, and particularly to a message management system and method that integrates multiple message systems, and provides centralized message management and dispatch.
In a supplier, such as a semiconductor manufacturer, multiple alarm and information systems are employed to monitor system status or/and production lines. These systems are configured according to client requirements, so that the clients can receive necessary notification, such as wafer start, outgoing, yield information, and others by email or other methods. However, since not all systems can offer complete event management and notification functions, clients receive inconsistent notification, with correspondingly limited information.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional message notification system. Conventionally, each system maintains individual recipient lists, forwarding email messages to corresponding clients accordingly. In this case, wafer start (111), outgoing (112) and yield (113) report systems transmit messages to clients (121, 122 and 123) via channels A˜G. Since the recipient lists of each system are maintained manually, respective clients may receive inaccurate information if recipient lists are maintained erroneously, thereby violating confidentiality.
From a client perspective, since different departments of respective clients may have different message needs for analysis, and the required message types may be frequently changed, there is no efficient manner in which to manage a large amount of messages from the supplier. Further, if one recipient is absent, replacement personnel are unable to locate and retrieve related messages.
From a supplier perspective, report systems are difficult to enhance and integrate if in packages or they are developed by different suppliers. Further, without an appropriate integration mechanism, duplicate labor is required to implement complete notification in all systems. Furthermore, since recipients for respective clients may also change frequently, the supplier has difficulty maintaining recipient lists in respective systems, thereby wasting related resources including manpower and time.